This Is Home
by XxYourXxFavoriteXxBrunetteXx
Summary: (alternate universe, full disclosures/pairings/information inside) Tatum Rivers comes to Port Charles under the guise of a letter that suggests there's more to her being given up for adoption than she realizes. She's also on the run from an abusive ex, pregnant with a child, and not expecting anything more than a new start. But when she reunites with her family and falls in love..
1. Chapter 1

{ Authors Note }

First of all, I own only my original character, her backstory, and the plot for this story. I do not own General Hospital, because if I did, Logan, Coop, Diego and several others would not be dead. And Ellie would not have ever been bought onto the show, because she annoys the living piss out of me.

That being said, this is a complete rewrite of my previous story, Her Story, with a different twist this time, and some new ideas. I wanted to keep the old one going, but it was moving waaay too fast.

The TMK storyline **NEVER** happened. In my opinion, that was among many of the stupidest lines the show's had, and I actually LIKED Diego, Logan, Coop, Georgie and it pissed me off when they literally killed off nearly all my favorite characters during that time frame.

That being said, I need to post a pairings list.. Below are ALL the pairings of this story, with the important ones/characters being in bold. It should be noted that this is an oc centric story, so there will be a lot of emphasis on the original character and her pairing.

It's also going to be sort of connected (mentions wise) to my story Hush Hush/Second Chances, in that my character from there, Emmaleigh, will make appearances in this one, also.

**PAIRINGS:**

***(oc)Tatum Rivers x Logan Hayes**

***(oc)Emmaleigh Benson x Johnny **

**Maxie x Coop**

**Georgie x Spinelli**

**Lulu x Dante**

**Brooklyn x Diego**

**JaSam**

_past LuSam_

_past LiAson_

**Liz x AJ**

**Ethina**

**Molly x Rafe**

The story sort of centers around the young adults (who were teens during the TMK thing, of course) and how their lives are currently, how my original character Tatum adjusts to finding out she's got this whole other family she never had any clue existed, because she was made out to be dead when her mother, Sam, gave birth to her, but in reality, she was actually kidnapped.

FAMILY TREES CURRENTLY:

Okay, so here's the fun part, so nobody gets confused.. Since I **took out the TMK storyline**, and it **never happened** in my story, there's a **lot of things different here**, as opposed to on the show. Pay attention so you don't get confused. People have been aged up or down to make things fit together neatly.

Jason x Sam

Have 2 children, Lila and Danny. Lila's approximately 6 and Danny is the age he is currently on the show right now.

Sam has also adopted Jake and Jason is like another father to Tatum, Sam's oldest child.

Liz x Jason (past relationship)

Have Jake, who also never died, and he's about 4.

Sam x Lucky (past relationship)

Tatum Rivers, 25, is carrying Sam's first grandchild, which will be a girl named Dakota Rose.

Lulu x Dante

Dante Jr – is 5 and a half

Laurana – is 3

Maxie x Coop

Cooper Jr – is 7

Maxie is also pregnant currently, with their second child, which will probably be another boy.

Spinelli x Georgie

Georgie is also pregnant currently, with their first child, a girl, Mariah.

Diego x Brooklyn

Have a set of girl twins named Ella and Ember, who are both 7.

Johnny x Emmaleigh

Emmaleigh is pregnant currently. Not telling whether the baby will be a boy or girl, considering I have a story just for them already in progress.

Tatum x Logan

Tatum is currently pregnant, and her child will be a little girl named Dakota Rose, Logan will wind up adopting the baby. Or will he?

Ethan x Kristina

Engaged, secretly. No children yet.

**Things that are changed:**

Okay, so instead of the TMK, Emily is alive and she's not back in Port Charles, yet.. But by the end of this, since I love Nem, she'll probably make quite a few appearances and be paired with Nickolas.

Jake never died. I'm ignoring the deaths of Jake and Lila. I hated how they took Jason's first child and Sam's little baby girl Lila. This will also add an interesting awkwardness between Liz, Jason, AJ and Sam.

Instead of Sam finding out Alexis was her mother years ago, she's only just now finding out, because Alexis was supposed to be her lawyer (Monica takes her to court when Jason was presumed dead, for custody of Danny and Lila, trying to prove her an unfit mother, because she'd distraught with losing Jason.) and they got close, became friends. Alexis turned to Sam and asked her to find the daughter she gave up for adoption when she was younger, and Sam discovers that Alexis is her biological mother, purely by accident. It's Alexis' idea for Sam to do the same and at least check into the mysterious letters she keeps getting, insisting that her own daughter, Tatum, is alive and well, was taken from her.

The current plot is only going to be observed in moderation, so it's almost like what's going on on the show, (with the exception of carly's bit, hiring Sean who shoots Olivia by mistake and Jason was presumed dead, but he returned is reunited with Sam now) will not be happening here. If you don't like alternate universe, I wouldn't keep reading if I were you. This is me fixing things I wish were fixed on the actual show.

ABOUT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTER, TATUM RIVERS-SPENCER

Tatum is 25 and she was raised by a family who adopted her illegally from Helena, after Helena had her kidnapped, shortly after Sam gave birth to her. The nurses lied to Sam and told her Tatum was dead, when in reality, she wasn't, Helena kidnapped her, then sold her basically.

She was raised in Miami,Florida by Ted and Marion Rivers, and when they died in an auto accident when she was 15, she basically lived on her own, staying very carefully under the radar of welfare workers, because she didn't want to go into foster care.

When she was around 18, she started digging around, found out the names of her birth parents. What she doesn't know, is that Lucky and Sam both think she's dead, not alive. She actually thinks (because this is the crock that Helena told her adoptive parents) that her mother and father didn't want the responsibility of raising their daughter, and so they sold her to Helena, who allowed the Rivers to adopt her.

She's been dating this guy named Dominic for a few years and he's always been an asshole to her, he likes to hit her, call her names, do anything he can do to hurt her, really. She comes to Port Charles to start over after she gets an odd letter from someone claiming that there's more to her 'adoption/being given up' than she realizes.

Age:

25

Date Of Birth:

June 23

Appearance:

She stands about 5'2 with caramel blonde hair (it's not brown but it's not blonde either) that's just past her shoulderblades and warm brown eyes. She's probably about 128 to 130 lbs. She's not really into wearing much makeup, and she tends to either just let her hair stay down, do nothing with it, or wear it in a slightly messy ponytail.

Clothing preferences:

She's not a fan of dressing up, really, she's more or less going to be in jeans and a t shirt or something. About as 'fancy' as she gets, is a sundress and flats or sandals with a slight wedge heel or something.

Favorite Music: classic rock and some country

Least Favorite Music: Pop or Techno, and she absolutely hates rap

Favorite Song: Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones

Least Favorite Song: We Are Never Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift, or for that matter, anything she's ever sung, with the exception of 2 songs.

Favorite Movie: The Crow, Devils Advocate, The Expendables I & II, Die Hard 1-5, Fast & The Furious 1-6

Least Favorite Movie: Twilight

Favorite Book: The Shining, The Great Gatsby, Wuthering Heights, Bag of Bones, Desperation

Least Favorite Book: Twilight

Favorite Color: Black, Red, Dark Purple

Least Favorite Color: Pale Pink or White

Favorite Animal: Horses and Dogs

Least Favorite Animal: Cats

Favorite Food: Cheeseburger and French Fries with Dr. Pepper and chocolate ice cream

Least Favorite Food: Salads

Favorite Part of A Man's Body: Arms, Eyes and Ass.

Least Favorite Part: Mouth (because that's where all her problems with them start at, when they open them)

Hobbies: boxing, watching horror movies, riding atv's, sleeping late, spending time with her family, working on cars/trucks, playing pool, playing Call Of Duty, going to and watching WWE events or TNA events, swimming, fishing, camping.

Odd fact: She collects bottles, mainly liquor bottles. She also collects BIC lighters.

Vices: Used to be a smoker and sort of a drinker, she's quit because she's discovered she's pregnant, so she's cranky a lot and now she's got an 'addiction' to peppermint.

Personality:She can be stubborn, she's not good at handling emotional situations well, she's a closet romantic, she is easy going and laid back but has a bit of a temper, she's a quick thinker and she's actually good at charming people if she has to. She can get jealous easily, and she's a bit of a flirt, though for the most part, it's not intentional.

She also hides her sensitivity so nobody knows when they've hurt her. She's loyal and will do literally anything for people she cares about.


	2. Chapter 2

"This is it." Tatum muttered as she set her sights on the sign proclaiming, 'Welcome To Port Charles' after a long and exhausting drive to get there in the first place. She heard her stomach growling, and bit her lower lip, knowing she didn't have much money to get food at the moment, because she was running kind of low on cash.

She pulled into the parking lot of a diner and got out, stretching her legs. The smell of barbecue drew her in, and she walked through the doors, taking a seat in the back, reading the letter she'd gotten that'd prompted her to come here, to Port Charles, yet again.

"Right.. Sure.. " she muttered as she scowled at the letter in her hands, then shoved it into her purse, and grabbed the menu from nearby. The second she saw that a cheeseburger wasn't actually all that much here, she smiled to herself and leaned back in the booth a little, as she scanned over a newspaper she'd found lying on a windowsill at her booth, going directly to the classifieds.

Even if she didn't find what she came here looking for, (her birth parents) and even if what the letter claimed turned out to not be true (that she'd been taken and her parents thought she was dead with no clue she wasn't), she was going to stay here, because Port Charles was better than the alternative right now.

The alternative was going back to Dominic and suffering more of his 'love'. Or abuse, rather, but hey, the past 10 years of her life taught her that one was basically the other most of the time. And she wasn't about to do that, because she was not raising her child in the hell she lived in.

She wasn't getting her hopes up about finding out the letter were true, or that her parents were here, they did want her, god no. She was simply thinking for the long term, the best interests of her own kid. Being a single mother wouldn't be easy, of course, but Tatum wasn't even considering the other option, which was go back to Dominic.

She'd rather be alone, completely and totally, before she ever did that.

The waitress cut through her thoughts as she asked, "What will it be?" and Tatum gave her her order, falling silent again, as she sat looking out at the busy sidewalks, watching the people in her new hometown.

She couldn't help but wonder what her 'search' was going to turn up and what might lie ahead for her, how her life might finally get better after almost ten years of constant bad things happening to her.

Across town, Sam McCall Morgan was locking up her PI Agency for the night, and the envelope on her windshield caught her eye about the same time Jason showed up with Danny and Lila, prepared to go to her mother's house and have a family meal. She loved having a mother to turn to, and she was glad she'd found Alexis. If she could have picked her birth mother? She'd have picked Alexis, no doubt about this. And when she'd discovered a few months back that Alexis was in fact her mother, she was ecstatic.

The letter in her hands was short and simple, to the point. And she blinked as the bitter feeling washed over her, and she said quietly, "Who would pull a joke this sick on me?"

Jason's arms around her had her turning and handing him the letter. Jason read it and scowled then said calmly, "I'm going to kill whoever sent this. They know that's a touchy subject with both you and Spencer. I don't blame, hell, I hated watching you go through all that." as he hugged her and then said quietly, "You know she's gone, Sam."

Sam pushed back, looked up at her husband and then said quietly, "Sometimes, I'm not sure if I really do.. I mean Lucky and I were so young back then, you know how things happen around here.. Anyone actually could have done this to us."

"Sam.." Jason started as he bit his words back and kissed her forehead then said simply, "If you think there's any chance she's alive, that this letter's real, then talk to Alexis about it tonight. Explain what you think might have happened."

Sam nodded, she knew Jason was only saying this to keep her from being hurt when the letter turned out to be a joke, but still, parts of her wondered.. What if the letter were real? What if her oldest child was out there, somewhere...

The chance was too tempting to pass up, especially given the fact that according to the letter, the girl thought she'd just washed her hands of her, that her father had just washed her hands of her.

"First of all, I want to find out who sent this.. Can we stop by PCPD and let me give this to Lucky?" Sam asked as Jason nodded and said with a smile, "Yeah. But talk to your mom tonight, Sam.. She'll tell you if she honestly thinks it could be true or not." as he watched her from the corner of his eye, half hoping it were true, half fearing it weren't.

Jason knew this one thing had drastically changed her life, Lucky's life back then, and he'd been there with her through it all, helped her grieve, grieved with her. That's kind of when they'd really fallen for one another.

Lucky looked at Sam as she showed him the letter, and giving Jason a raised brow as he asked, "And you came out, this letter was just sitting there? Did you see anyone, Jason?"

"Nope. I'd only just gotten there.. Look, it's unlikely it's true, but someone's toying with Sam, and I wanna know who. Find out, SPencer, before I do."

"You got it, Morgan." Lucky said as he read the letter, found his mind going back to probably the worst night of his life. He bit his lip and raked his hand through his shaggy hair as he muttered, "I'm going to find out who sent this and kick their ass. It's a damn sick joke."

The entire ride to her mothers, Sam stared out the window, lost in thought as Lila and Danny took turn trying to cheer up mommy. She sighed and turned facing them as she hugged Lila and said "So.. How was school today?"

"Daddy came! He tell everybody about workin as a coffee importer and owning a bike shop!" Lila clapped her hands together as Jason smiled and then said "Did you tell Mom what happened at recess?"

"I hit a home run! We were playin teeball and I hit a home run, mommy." Lila exclaimed as Sam kissed her daughter and said "That's good, baby girl.. I'm proud of you.. Guessing this means you'll want to play baseball this summer?"

"Mhmm!"

Sam found herself wondering as she went through the motions of her usual routine as of late, if her daughter were out there somewhere, and sighing, she shoved the thoughts from her mind.

Someone was just pulling a sick joke, that was all this was. It had to be, right?


	3. Chapter 3

Alexis read the letter Sam found on her windshield that afternoon and then said calmly, " Well, what does your gut tell you?" as she looked at her daughter expectantly, while Lila ran over to her waving a piece of glittery paper and said with a smile, "For you, grammy."

"Thank you, princess." Alexis said as she picked up her granddaughter, then said to Sam, "If you think there's even the slightest chance that your daughter is out there, and she really thinks what that letter indicates, I suggest you find her. Because that would really weigh on me, if I were in her shoes, I don't know about you.."

"It would me too, if I thought that about you. I did think that about you, Mom, and I regret even thinking it, but at the same time, I know exactly how she might feel, if this is true."

"And that's a big if.. But how would you even start to look?" Alexis asked as she cleared away dishes with Sam's help, and tried to figure out how she'd start looking, if she were in her daughter's position.

"Go through the records at the hospital, I don't even really know.. Or, I could try and find out who sent me this little note this afternoon. I got Lucky to dust it for prints and it came back with one print. That matched nobody in the system at PCPD." Sam said as she rubbed her forehead, her mind's constant nonstop thought process currently, giving her the beginnings of a stress headache.

"I have some tylenol in the bathroom." Alexis pointed out as Sam smiled a little then said "I'm getting a headache."

"It comes with overthinking things, Sam, it's one of many traits I think you got from me." Alexis said as she picked up Danny, covering his face in noisy kisses. She looked at the letter again, for herself, and found herself wishing one more time she hadn't given Sam up to the couple that'd taken her and raised her.. Maybe if she hadn't, Sam's own daughter wouldn't have been taken, or died, whichever really happened.

Something about the letter got her thinking, the off the wall explanation, at least, and she could have sworn she'd seen the handwriting somewhere before. She ran to her desk drawer, pulled out a note she'd gotten, similar, telling her to look into her daughter's adoption a year ago. And she held the two notes up to the light.

Paper shades, writing, ink even were all a perfect match, and again she got a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.. But this strange feeling prompted her to run down the hall to where Sam stood in Molly's doorway, watching Rafe and Molly entertain Lila.

"You should look for her, Sam.. And there's something you need to see. Here, take it, take it to the station and let Lucky look at it." Alexis said as she put the envelope and note she'd gotten, like Sam's, into her daughter's hand.

Sam looked at them and said "Mom? Is this what made you start looking for me?"

"It is, yes."

"I'm glad you kept it.. Now I have this odd feeling.. Maybe I should start my search right here in town.. After all, that's where you found me.."

"True, but.. If Helena had anything to do with this, and according to both letters, she did, indirectly, you won't find her here. At least not easily." Alexis said as Sam bit her lip, studied both the letters.

"She just might be, mom.. The last line.. The truth is closer to you than you know?"

"Mine said that too, Sam. It could just be encouragement."

"No, mom.. I have a feeling it's a huge clue. I'm gonna go back through your case, what I put together when I was trying to find well, me.." Sam said as Jason chuckled and then spoke up saying, "So did you decide whether it was a joke or not?" as Alexis nodded and said "I happen to think this time, someone wants her to find her daughter."

Jason nodded then said quietly, "You weren't in her life back then, when she and Lucky lost their daughter.. I was, and I got to see first hand how it tore them both apart."

"I know, Jason, but I just have this feeling. If she wants to look and dig around, let her. She found out she was my daughter like this, maybe she'll find her own daughter, and she can finally honestly be happy."

"I hope she does, but I'm afraid of what it'll do to her if she doesn't." Jason said quietly as Alexis hugged him stiffly and then said "Me too.. But if there's anything out there to find out, or be uncovered, my daughter will. She's stronger than she gives herself credit for."

"She is, but she's already been through way more than she should have ever been made to go through." Jason said thoughtfully, as he took Danny, hugging his son close to him for a moment. He watched Sam with Lila and Molly, smiled to himself. Alexis was right. If she looked, it couldn't hurt anything, she'd already grieved, and still did upon occasion.

And if she found something, then maybe she could finally at least get proper closure.

His cell phone went off and he flipped it open, reading the text..

"Hey, Sam? Lucky found an id for the print."

"Well?"

"A retired nurse named Elizabet Steinberg. She's in Shady Pines, but.."

"That's good, that's something at least." Sam said as she added to her already full schedule to make a meeting with Nurse Steinberg, find out why she felt compelled to write those letters.

As soon as Alexis heard the name, she took a deep breath and then said calmly, "I think Helena employed a woman named Elizabet." as she walked down to her office, texted Nickolas.. If the documents of who did and didn't work for Helena were anywhere, they were tucked away at Windmere.

As soon as Sam heard the name Helena, she cringed inwardly and then muttered, "So that part's not a lie.. Maybe this is really happening." as she anticipated the hard time she was going to have, finding her oldest child, reuniting her with their family, finally.

But, it was high time she did so.

Jason hugged her and kissing her forehead said "Anything you need me to do, babe, just ask."

"Just be there for me.. because this is going to bring back a lot of stuff I sort of buried." Sam muttered as she bit her lip then said "And Lucky's going to have a hard time believing this himself."

"He will.. But he really needs the good news too, Sam." Jason said as Sam nodded then asked, "When did he text you?"

"About five minutes ago. Told me to call him later. I think he was more worried about what it'd do to you than how it bugged him." Jason said as Sam nodded and then said "And I'm worried about how all this will affect her, once I've found her, or found out what happened to her. .What if I dig and find out she's dead.."

"Then we'll deal with it as a family, Sam." Jason said as Sam hugged him.


	4. Chapter 4

Tatum ran until her legs burned, and still he followed her, yelling drunkenly, as he shoved people out of the way down the sidewalk he chased her down. Normally, Tatum would die before she ran from the abusive son of a bitch, but she was pregnant, she wasn't risking her baby's health or life just to hit Dominic, be hit back.

His hand tangled in her hair, and he grabbed her, pulling her angrily back into an alley way. She swung both fists, swearing at him as she tried like hell to get away, get back to work. Her boss, Johnny, kept a baseball bat in the shop, and a few guns. He knew her situation, because she'd told him already, when he hired her to work in the garage area, and he'd shown her where everything was.

"Going somewhere, Tate?" Dominic asked coldly, as Tatum glared and then spat "No, but you are."

"Where, exactly, babe?"

"Hell." Tatum said as she rammed her fist into his nose, busting it on impact, then took off at a flying run into the shop area of the body shop she worked at or had been for two days now. Once the door was shut, she grabbed a tire tool, flattened herself against a wall, waiting. And sure enough, he burst in the door literally seconds later. She hit him once on the jaw with the tire tool and he popped up, swinging at her wildly, blood from his nose dripping as he tried to see through the stream of blood that was slowly oozing out of the small indentation on his forehead. He grabbed the tire tool and used it to pull her to him, then picked her up.

A shot sounded in the shop and he dropped her on a foldout couch nearby as Emmaleigh, her boss's girlfriend stepped in and said with a smirk, "First shot was a warning shot. The next one goes to your balls. And the last one will go between your eyes.. Now please tell me you're not going to be stupid and make me shoot you in the balls?" as she bit her lip anxiously, looked at her friend, Tatum and gave a small smile of understanding.. She knew she shouldn't be involved in this, given that she was pregnant and this baby meant so very much to her, but she also knew Tatum was pregnant, and Tatum had noone but herself and Johnny to stand up for her in Port Charles.

The man smirked and then said with a wink, "Cute."

Johnny stepped into the room and said quietly, "Back to the front, babe. I got this." as Emmaleigh nodded and Johnny took the gun. He smirked and said casually, "Taking it you're Dominic?"

"Yeah. Who the fuck are you?"

"Johnny Zaccarra. And just so you know, I'm not someone you wanna piss off.. People go missing when I get pissed, it's not really pretty.. What are you doing harassing my employee and my friend?" he asked as he eyed the man calmly, as he added, "Oh and by the way.. If you ever even think about speaking to my girlfriend again, man.. I'll fucking kill you. And I'll get away with it too. Friends in high places and whatnot."

Dominic growled and started towards the mouthy prick, but Tatum swung the tire tool one last time, and he slumped over, blacking out.

"I didn't kill the jerk, did I?" Tatum asked, partially in shock, mostly in fear. Johnny bent down then felt for a pulse as Emmaleigh walked in, calmly surveyed the mess, and then said "Do we need our buddies in blue, baby?"

"Why not? Logan's always up for a few rounds.. Dante's gotta be getting restless." Johnny muttered darkly as he looked up and said "Unfortunately, Tatum, he's not dead. Hell of a swing though."

"Maybe if he has to make few more trips to the ER, he'll realize I really am done with his shit." Tatum muttered as she looked around the disheveled shop and said quietly, "I'm sorry, Johnny."

"Don't apologize. You're Emmaleigh's friend, so you're my friend too, I stick up for my friends." Johnny said as he called Logan explained the situation and told him they might need a medic, but that everything happened in self defense.

A few moments later, Logan pulled up in the squad car, siren off, as he walked in the back way.. A few years ago, when he'd been so caught up in Lulu, if you'd have told him he'd be friends with Johnny and working on the right side of the law, he'd have laughed in your face and called you an idiot. But here he was, going in the back way, looking around the shop and checking for signs of a struggle.

"So.. Who clocked our boy with the tire tool and finally put him down?" Logan asked as he figured maybe the guy had been going after Johnny's girl, Emmaleigh, who was a friend of his. Johnny smirked, pointed to a girl who barely stood 5'3 and then said "Her."

"No shit?"

"No shit, Baldwin."

"Hey Tate! Come over here, tell Logan what happened to ya." Johnny said as he added in a lower voice, "She's sort of havin problems with the jerk in the floor."

"Ahh.. I'll make sure I keep an eye on the jerk then." Logan said with a slight wink as Emmaleigh walked in, helped Tatum patch herself up, her minor injuries.

"Ouch.. That crap stings, damn."

"But your lips busted open. Be still."

"That cop's okay, right?"

"Yeah, he's a decent guy.. Why?"

"Because I don't wanna bring Johnny and you any trouble.. It's bad enough Dominic actually somehow managed to find me."

"You don't worry about it, okay?" Emmaleigh said as she smiled, gave her a nudge towards the hunky blond cop who smirked and raked his hand through his hair then said calmly, "You need to come with me, file a report against this guy."

"I'll handle it, officer."

"I'm being serious, Ms. Rivers." Logan said as Tatum looked at him, as if trying to figure out if he were a jerk like her boyfriend's cop buddies had been in Florida.

"I'm not on the make, if you're wondering." Logan insisted as he said "C'mon. I'll bring ya back when you tell me exactly what happened today."

"Fine." Tatum said quietly, letting him lead her to the squad car, getting in the passenger seat where she spent most of the ride staring at the back of her hands, biting her lip until she finally said "Look.. If you're thinkin it, I'm not one of those weak little women. And believe it or not, when I got mixed up with the jerk in your backseat, I should have gotten out then, but.."

"But what?" Logan asked as he studied her intently, waiting on an answer.

"But I figured that he was the best I was gonna get. And hell, at least the jackass loved me, or said he did.. I was young and stupid." Tatum blurted as she fell silent again then said "But trust me.. I don't need a restraining order, sir, because if he comes near me again, I'll kill him with my bare hands." before falling silent and staying that way for the rest of the ride to the police station.

Once she was there, she sat at a desk, trying to keep from looking anyone directly in the eye, ashamed of her black eye, all the old scars and bruises, not wanting to look as weak as she felt at the moment. Because if there was one thing she'd learned in 10 + years of taking care of herself, looking out for herself, it was that if you showed someone a weakness, they took it, used it against you and laughed about it when you got hurt.

She answered all of Logan's questions, let him make out a report, and when Dominic walked into booking and stopped, tried to kiss her, she smirked as she stomped his foot then held her middle finger up in his face.

"You won't be so brave when my friends bail me out and I don't have these damn cuffs on, will you?" he sneered as he leaned in before getting yanked back by another officer, Lucky Spencer, who said with a smug smirk, "Ya know.. People like you don't usually last long in lockup.. Things happen to them.. And it's the damndest thing too, because we never can really explain it."

"Anybody stupid enough to try and take me out deserves to die." Dominic said with a menacing sneer as Lucky put a little extra force into getting their new inmate acquainted with county lock up. When he walked back up to the squad room, he managed to catch up to the girl and then said quietly, "Guys like that don't stop until your dead." before looking at her, wondering why he felt this odd connection and walking away. He'd just had this odd urge to protect the girl just now, even though he'd never seen her before in his entire life...


	5. Chapter 5

True to his word, Dominic was out of jail the very next day. A smirk formed on his face as he followed Tatum into the Metro Court's lobby, grabbed her by her hair and dragged her into an empty hallway.

"Hey babe.. I've got the cuffs off.. Still feelin brave?" he asked as Tatum stomped his toe, ran to the lounge area, blended in with some other people sitting at the bar. The bartender asked quietly, "You want something to drink?"

"Can't. Just tell me if a guy about 6'0 tall with dark brown hair and tan skin wearing a Miami Hurricanes shirt walks into the bar, would ya?" She asked as the bartender raised a brow and asked, "Why?"

"Ughh, nevermind, I'll obviously just be better off running." Tatum scowled as she slipped through the crowd of people eating at the tables nearby, and out the back, into the staff parking lot. "Can't even pick damn take out for lunch without him showing up, making my life hell. I knew I should have killed him the night I left." she swore quietly as she stopped to take a breather.

Just as he rounded the corner, fully intent on grabbing the little bitch and making her a lot less cocky than she'd been when he was lead off in cuffs, the same cop who'd inadvertantly threatened him grabbed him and smirking said "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah. I'm about to go find my girl. Pay her a visit since I'm out." Dominic said as Lucky shook his head then slammed him against the cop car, cuffed him and said "I saw the whole thing, and the only place you're going, Dominic, is right back to county lockup.. Until your parole officer comes to collect you... Apparently, Ms. Rivers had a restraining order on you, and if you violated the terms in any way, sir, you're sentence is reinstated."

"Says who?" Dominic asked angrily as Lucky shrugged and said with a smirk and wink, "I have friends in high places, Dominic." before getting in and driving the man back to county lock up, to process him into holding, then await the man from Miami Dade PD who was supposed to come, get this jerk.

The sooner the better.

Tatum watched hidden as Dominic got arrested and then driven back to jail. She smirked and stepping out, she walked back down the sidewalk, turning a corner, colliding with a woman about her height with brown hair and almost the exact same shade of brown eyes as her own. For a moment she just gaped at her, then she muttered a quick apology as Sam said with a weak smile, "It's okay, it was kind of my fault too, I'm.. I'm worried about something."

"It wasn't your fault." Tatum said calmly, as she managed a smile then said "Tatum. Whats your name?"

"Sam Morgan.. Have I met you before?" Sam asked, overwhelmed by the sense that she'd seen the girl somewhere before, or something. If she really thought about it, the brown eyed girl with caramel blonde hair that stood in front of her, well.. She almost looked like what Sam pictured the girl she and Lucky lost a few afters after she'd given birth to her, to look.

But she shoved the thought out of her head. She was still in shock, because she'd had an emotional rollercoaster of a day today.. It started off with the discovery that her daughter with Lucky, and her oldest child was in fact still alive, and apparently in Miami Florida.. And it was ending, apparently, with the discovery that her infant son Danny might have leukemia. She'd been lost in thought when she smacked into the caramel blonde, moments before, reflecting on that, trying to figure out how to save her son and find her daughter simultaneously, because as a mother, she was determined not to stop until she had her entire family reunited.

If she'd learnt anything in thinking she'd lost Jason not so long ago, it was that life was way too short to let the people she loved think she didn't love them. At any given moment, you could lose the person you loved.

Like she was afraid she might lose her infant son now.

For some reason, as Tatum stood looking at the woman, she felt this odd connection. A connection which prompted her to ask, "Hey.. are you okay?"

"Just scared right now.. I'm having one of those emotionally up and down days, ya know?" Sam said as her eyes caught on the girls eyes again, and she noticed just how much like an older blonde Molly the girl in front of her looked like.

Almost like herself at that age, had she had blonde hair, not brown.

"God, don't I?" Tatum asked, finding herself staring into the woman's eyes, as she asked, "Do you wanna talk about it or something? I'm on my lunch break, I have time if.."

Sam normally would have died before she talked to a stranger about her problems, because she was that proud, and that private, but for some reason, the girl didn't exactly feel like a stranger to her.

She sat down at a cafe table on the outside of Kelly's and started to talk. The words came easily, though they hurt like hell to say. When she finished, Tatum said quietly, "If it's any consolation, Sam.. I don't think that your daughter blames you. I mean I'm in a similar position myself, and I did used to blame my parents, but I know the truth now. I just wish to all hell I could find 'em."

"You were adopted?"

"Mhmm. From here, apparently." Tatum said as she sipped the last of a thick creamy milkshake, watching Sam's reaction. She got the feeling that the meeting today wasn't a coincidence, but she didn't say anything. Until she asked, "You said you own a private investigation agency, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you maybe help me...hell.. Can you help me find my parents?" Tatum asked cautiously, as Sam smile d and took her number then said "Don't worry about it, I need the distraction." when Tatum took out some of her check and held the money out to the woman.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Ms. Rivers. I'll start as soon as I can." Sam said as she watched Tatum beginning to walk off. About halfway down the sidewalk, Tatum stopped and said with a brave smile, "And Mrs. Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"Every storm runs out of rain sooner or later. Maybe Danny's okay. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I'd pray for him, but in my life, I've learned that praying doesn't always work out the way you want it to."

Sam nodded and then watched the girl disappear into Johnny's auto shop about 2 doors down still eating a turkey sandwich.

Maybe everything did have a reason for happening. She certainly got that feeling right now, as she stood there trying to figure out the odd feeling that the girl had given her.


	6. Chapter 6

Tatum wasn't exactly sure why she found herself standing in front of the nursery, looking in at the crib they had Mrs. Morgan's son in for the moment while they prepared his room, but she found herself standing there just the same. Her hand went to her own slightly rounded stomach as she tried for one moment to consider what she'd feel if this same situation happened to her little girl.

The voices from behind her startled her and she jumped a mile in the air at least, her hand going to her heart as she recognized Mrs. Morgan's youngest sister, Molly.

"I, umm.. I wanted to check on the kid.. I mean Mrs. Morgan's doing a lot for me, trying to help me reunite with my family.. Here." Tatum said as she produced a model car from behind her back, held it out to Molly.

"Thanks. I'll put it in his room when they get it ready." Molly said as she asked in her next breath, "Do I know you? I swear, you look so familiar.." as she studied the petite brunette closely.. If she didn't know better, she'd almost swear that the girl who stood in front of her resembled a blonde version of her older sister in some ways.

"Doubt it.. I didn't really grow up around here.."

Molly nodded and Tatum set off for her own doctor's appointment, smashing into Logan, who had his arm bandaged, was getting helped out of the ER by Coop Barrett, who was swearing at him and saying, "Next time, buddy.. Don't go playing Jesse James? I almost lost ya once, man."

"I know, I know, damn it, but.." Logan trailed off as he set sights on the reason he'd been in a shoot out in the alley way moments before. He'd caught the man he'd arrested at Johnny's shop a few days before trying to sneak in, sneak up on Tatum, and he hadn't really thought, he'd just reacted.

What he hadn't realized, of course, was that the son of a bitch was packing heat under his t shirt and then he opened fire. What made the whole thing sort of funny to Coop and the other's in the squadroom, of course was Johnny's statement, as he said with a mild smirk, 'Told her to take the morning off. She had a doctors visit.'

Tatum hadn't even been in the shop when her ex was about to try and hurt her, yet Logan still had that reaction.. And he was still wondering why it'd bothered him as it had, why he'd felt a moments fear.

Sure they played pool together and all that after work, or even met up at Diego and Brooklyn's to watch baseball games (he hated baseball, she on the other hand loved it) and play cards at night sometimes, but beyond that? Nothing. She'd done nothing to indicate any sort of interest in him.

He, on the other hand, was sort of falling head over heels for her, before he even got a chance to stop himself.

"Sorry, I was just thinking.. What the hell happened to your arm?" Tatum asked as Logan shrugged and said "Some jackass shot at me."

"Damn it."

"Yeah, you get used to it when you work on the right side of the law for once in your life and not the wrong one." Logan joked as Tatum studied him and shook her head as she tried not to laugh at his joking about it. She popped him on the uninjured arm and then said "You have to live, Hayes. The object of playing cops and robbers is to stay alive, damn it, not go trying to get dead."

"I do, do I?" he asked as he realized they were migrating closer to one another. He noticed the sonogram in her hands and then asked, "So.. Boy or girl."

"Girl."

Logan nodded, keeping his private thoughts private as he said quietly, "You should know.. Your ex is still slinking around.. Nothing we've done we've been able to make stick to the jerk.. And he's got a weapon."

"Damn it."

"Yeah, he's the one who shot me.." Logan admitted, watched her eyes widen in fear as she said quietly, "You shouldn't be around me, Hayes.. he's not gonna stop until I'm dead or hurt.. I don't want anybody getting hurt."

"Yeah, well I'm your friend, Tate, and I don't want you getting hurt either." Logan said as Tatum began to walk off. He stopped her, grabbing her wrist as he said "Just be careful, okay? Do not go find this guy and engage him."

"Oh trust me.. I'm not that stupid."

She sighed as she gave him one last look.. Then she walked down the hallway, shoulders slumped in defeat. Apparently, her ex was going to stick around, which made her feelings for the officer, Logan Hayes, difficult ones to have and not sooner or later act on.

"Who am I kidding? He probably doesn't even like me that much." she muttered as she checked her phone one more time, walked out of the building, to her car in the third row of the lot.

Her drive back to her 'room' above Kelly's consisted mostly of her trying to figure a way out of this mess that was safest for everyone.. Little did she realize, Sam had just made a huge discovery, and this would change everything Tatum knew about her own life, so far.


	7. Chapter 7

Sam gaped at the screen in front of her, stunned and shocked completely speechless. "This.. It can't be right. She can't have been here, right under my nose the whole time... Right?" she muttered as she dragged her hand slowly through her long dark brown hair and bit her lower lip before picking up her cell phone, calling Lucky and leaving a voicemail.

Next she called her mother and her sisters, then Jason and told them what she'd just discovered. Then she sat there in her quiet office for a few moments, trying to figure out how in the hell to explain what she was about to, to Tatum. Her ringing cell phone had her jumping out of her skin almost as she answered.

Lucky had just gotten her message and called her right back almost immediately. "What's up, Sam?"

"I found her."

"Who?"

"I found our daughter, Lucky. She's alive. And living right here in Port Charles, apparently. She works down at Johnny's garage. Her name is Tatum Rivers."

Lucky thought it over then it hit him and he muttered quietly, "That explains it. That explains it perfectly now."

"What?"

"This girl came in about 2 weeks ago, on a domestic disturbance call that Logan took. Logan made damn sure she filled out some kind of restraining order and the guy, Sam.. Let's just put it this way.. When they were leading him down to booking, I wanted to kill him for some reason. I know, I see this stuff all the time, but this time it was different.. And when I spoke to the girlfriend, I got this weird feeling.. Like deja vu or something almost.. I was talking to my own damn daughter."

Sam processed all this and then muttered quietly, "She's in danger?"

"Not anymore she's not, because I'm going to make damn sure this jerk disappears, if Logan doesn't beat me to it. I think he.."

"You think he's into her."

" In not so many words, yes." Lucky said as he watched Logan and Tatum standing in the bullpen of the police station, arguing over something. They argued a lot. Not in a bad way, but in one of those 'you drive me so damn insane.. but i cannot stay away' kind of ways.

Sort of like he and Sam had at first before it'd all went downhill, after losing Tatum. The loss split them up. The loss basically drove the nail into the coffin so to speak.

Sam sighed as she said "I'm actually going to the garage to tell her now, one on one."

"She's not there."

"How do you know?"

"Because I am standing in my office, looking out the window into the bullpen, watching her and Logan have one of their arguments."

Sam snickered to herself a little and then said "I'll be right there. I want to tell her. She needs to know now."

Outside in the bull pen, Tatum glared at Logan and then insisted, " Damn it, I told you NOT to go getting hurt again. Do you just do this to piss me off? I didn't ask you to beat the living hell out of my ex, Logan. And now you're not able to work for a week? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinkin, darlin that you need someone to watch over you. That guy tried to sneak in your fucking apartment last night, Tatum."

"And I nailed him with a baseball bat and called you guys. It was handled." Tatum pointed out as she growled in frustration and then said quietly, "Look.. You're my closest friend. Forgive me for wanting you to not die on us." looking up at him, ignoring the way that several others in the squadroom were watching them currently.

Then the throat cleared from the doorway of Detective Spencer and Tatum looked over. He signalled for her to walk in and then said "Sit down."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Not really." Lucky said as he looked at her. She was this almost perfect mix of himself and her mother. He couldn't help but smile as he asked, "Logan's making you crazy, huh?"

"God yes. Damn it, I keep telling him Dominic's a few fries short of a happy meal but he keeps makin it his personal mission to go after him and then he goes and gets hurt or gets shot at and damn it.. He's the closest person I have right now. I mean don't get me wrong, I love my best friend Emmaleigh to death but.."

"I get it." Lucky said as he found himself trying to figure out how to explain to her that what she really meant was that she loved Logan, she just didn't want to admit it.

"I don't, because before that guy I was good at not letting people get to me, ya know?"

Lucky nodded and then said "The reason I called you in here is because Mrs. Morgan found something out about your parents.. And she's on her way over to tell you.."

"What? Is it bad? They're not dead or something, right?"

"no, not even close, Tatum." Lucky said as he looked at the girl who he knew now was his daughter, wanting to tell her the news, but knowing if he did, that Sam would be mad as hell at him.

"What do you mean then?" Tatum asked as Lucky shut the door and then said quietly, "Just wait until Sam gets here.. I wanna tell you right now, but I know if I do, she'll be pissed, because this is something she wants to tell you too."

"O-okay then?" Tatum said as she raked her hand through her hair, studying the detective intently as she thought about it a few moments, really thought about things.. She'd had nonstop deja vu since she moved here.. It stood to reason that maybe there was a damn good reason for that..

The door burst open and Sam rushed in, out of breath.

"I just found your parents, Tatum." Sam said as Tatum nodded and then asked quietly, "Well?"

"I don't really know how to say this, I'm still trying to get my own head around it, actually... Lucky and I are your mother and father.. And there are a few things I wanna make sure you know before you leave here."

Tatum froze where she sat as she blinked and said "C-come again?"

"I'm your mother and Lucky, I mean Detective Spencer, he's your father.. And for some reason, someone decided to take you from us when you were born. We were told and we believed for a long time that you'd died in the nursery at the hospital only a few hours after you were born. Only recently did I get a letter that had me wondering if maybe what I was told was a lie."

"So... You mean.. Damn.. I.. "

Sam and Lucky laughed, and then Lucky looked at his daughter sternly and said "And that guy, Dominic.. He's not gonna be a problem anymore.. Dad's got this."

Tatum nodded quietly and then said "So... Do I get to meet everyone else?"

"Sure. I called your grandmother earlier, Lucky's called your grandmother Laura and your grandfather Luke." Sam said as Lucky nodded and then smiling asked, "Did you find out what you were having yet?"

"A little girl." Tatum said with a smile as she dug through her pockets, found the latest sonogram and held it out.

They talked a little longer, and planned things so that everyone would find out what they'd only just found out, tonight at the Haunted Star.


End file.
